At the Bottom of the Ocean
by Meg Rider
Summary: Ariel is a mermaid again but continues a friendship with Eric, hoping it will grow into something more. But, Eric has a duty to his kingdom and cannot be with Ariel. When he falls for Princess Odette, Ariel lets her darker side be revealed... One-Shot.


_A/N: I've decided to work on a couple side project one-shots of different Disney characters and different genres. I will write these in my spare time in between posting chapters of my main stories. As always, I will take any requests: Just let me know what character, or characters (can be crossover), you would like the story to be about and what genre you would like the story to be._

_This is a horror story about Ariel..._

Ariel sat on the rock watching Eric as he lied on the sand. He had killed Ursula and then slept on the beach all night. Ariel watched him sleep, wishing she had legs again so she could be with him. Of course, her father had been furious with her after he found out about the deal she made with Ursula. After a long fight, King Triton finally compromised with Ariel. She was allowed to go to the surface, but only to see Eric. And she was not allowed to try and find a way to have legs again. Ariel didn't like her father's restrictions, but she was glad she could still see Eric.

Eric woke up then and sat up. He shook his head and then rubbed his forehead. _No doubt questioning whether or not last night really happened, _Ariel thought. She dove into the water and swam to shore. She pulled herself up on the sand, but still left her fins in the water. At first, Eric smiled at her, but when he saw her tail, he frowned.

"Hi, Eric," Ariel said.

Eric smiled again at the sound of her voice. "Hi."

"I'm sorry you got caught up in that whole witch thing last night," Ariel said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

"It's all right." Eric was still looking at Ariel's tail.

Ariel felt self-conscious and lowered herself into the water so only the top half of her body could be seen.

"So, you really are a mermaid?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Ariel replied sadly.

"But you're still the same girl?"

Ariel nodded.

Eric smiled, then leaned forward and kissed her. His kiss was stiff and awkward. Definitely not the first kiss Ariel had been hoping for. Eric pulled away and laughed nervously.

"Maybe we can start by being friends first," Eric suggested.

Ariel was not happy with his suggestion; she wanted more than just a friendship with Prince Eric. But, she'd take what she could get...for now.

O O O

Ariel went up to the surface to visit Eric everyday. They became really good friends pretty quickly. They would joke around with each other. Tell each other stories about their worlds. Sometimes Eric would swim with Ariel, and sometimes she would sit on the shore with him and they'd make things in the sand (Eric often drew a heart with their names in it) or just talk. But, they're favorite thing to do was make music. She would sing while he played his Snarfblat (she never did learn the actual name of the instrument).

One afternoon Ariel was supposed to meet Eric to sing with him, but he was not in their usual spot. _Maybe he's just running late, _Ariel thought. She waited for hours for him to come but he never did. When the sun began to set, Ariel decided to go look for him. She was worried something had happened to him. She swam around his castle, looking frantically for him. Of course, she couldn't look too far since she couldn't walk around on land. She cursed her tail under her breath. She continued to swim around, looking for Eric, but never saw him. Ariel tried calling out his name, but he didn't answer. She dove back into the water and swam home. Her father was sitting on his throne, talking to Sebastian about an upcoming meeting with the ambassador of a nearby kingdom. Ariel waited impatiently for them to finish.

"Hello, Ariel," Triton greeted when he was done talking to Sebastian.

"Daddy, you need to give me legs!" Ariel cried.

Triton scowled at her. "Ariel, we talked about this. You are never to become human again. You are a mermaid and that's what you will always be."

"But, Daddy, Eric didn't show up today," Ariel said. "I think he's in trouble!"

Triton waved his hand in dismissal. "One less human to worry about," he said, bringing up the same point he had made when he found out she saved Eric from drowning.

"Daddy, please? I love him!"

"NO!" Triton bellowed. "What happens to that human is not of our concern. I suggest you forget all about him and never return to the surface."

Ariel narrowed her eyes at her father. "I _will _find him! And someday I will find a way to become human again and I will leave here and never come back!"

Ariel turned and swam away as fast as she could.

O O O

The next day Ariel returned to her and Eric's spot, but he was not there again. Ariel's heart sank and she swam back to his castle. This time she spotted Grimsby and waved him over.

"Hello, my dear," Grimsby greeted her.

"Grimsby, where is Eric?" Ariel asked.

Grimsby straightened up and looked around nervously.

"What is it, Grimsby? Is he all right? Did something happen to him?" Ariel asked.

"He's fine, dear Ariel," Grimsby said. "He's been spending a lot of time with Princess Odette lately."

Ariel felt like she had been stabbed in the heart. She put her hand over her chest to make sure she actually hadn't been.

"Are you all right?" Grimsby asked.

"I need to see him," Ariel said.

Grimsby nodded. "I will make sure he meets you tomorrow."

"Thank you."

O O O

Ariel eagerly swam to the meeting spot the next day. She had to know what was going on between her prince and Odette. She hoped he would tell her it was nothing. Eric was not yet at their meeting spot when she arrived. As she started to pull herself onto the shore, Ariel noticed the heart that was drawn in the sand. She leaned closer and saw that it said _Eric & Odette. _Ariel put her hand over Odette's name and scooped up the sand. She then threw the sand as hard as she could into the water. She sank back into the water and put her hands over her eyes. Tears poured down her face and fell into the ocean.

"Ariel?"

Ariel looked up to see Eric standing over her.

"Ariel, what's wrong?" Eric asked, crouching down in the sand.

"How could you?" Ariel sobbed. "I thought you loved me!"

"Ariel, I do love you," Eric said. "But, only as a friend. It's my duty, as the prince, to get married and produce an heir. I can't do that with a mermaid."

"But you can do those things with Odette," Ariel said. "Do you love her?"

"Yes," Eric said, quietly. "I'm sorry, Ariel."

"No, you're not!"

Ariel dove back into the water and swam away. She found a nearby rock and hid behind it. She watched Eric walk back to his castle. She immediately felt bad for yelling at Eric and wanted to apologize to him. She swam to his castle and found Grimsby again.

"He just left to take Odette on a carriage ride into the kingdom," Grimsby told her.

Ariel swam towards the kingdom. She reached the bridge just in time to see Eric's carriage cross over. This was the closest she could get to the kingdom. She exhaled in frustration. Ariel decided to wait by the bridge until they returned.

Ariel watched the sunset. As night fell over the kingdom, the air became chilly. Ariel wrapped her arms around herself and lowered herself further into the water.

"Ariel!"

Ariel looked up to see Scuttle flying overhead. He landed on rock and she swam over to him.

"Oh, Scuttle! Have you seen Eric?" Ariel asked.

"Yes. He's in that lagoon with a blonde girl," Scuttle replied.

Ariel swam to the lagoon as quickly as she could. Scuttle had been right. Eric was in small boat holding the hands of a woman whom Ariel assumed was Odette. Ariel hid behind a rock and watched them. Eric said something to Odette and she smiled sweetly back at him. Ariel had to admit Odette was beautiful. Jealousy consumed Ariel. Eric lightly brushed the hair off Odette's face, then put his hand under her chin and brought her in to a kiss. Anger now replaced the jealousy. How could Eric do this to her? She had changed for him, gave up her voice, and risked never seeing her father and sisters again. Even risked her life. And for what? For him to discard her like leftovers and go after some other tramp?

No. Ariel could not allow Odette to take her prince away from her.

Ariel quietly swam over to their boat. She came up underneath it and quickly flipped it over. She immediately pulled Eric under the water and held him there until he was passed out, but still alive. She pulled him over to a small patch of sand and dragged him onto the land. She then set out to look for Odette. She found her clutching to a rock.

"Who are you?" Odette asked when she saw Ariel.

"I'm a mermaid."

"Did you flip over our boat?" Odette asked.

Ariel slowly nodded and began swimming in circles around Odette. Odette clung to the rock, trying to back as far away from Ariel as she could.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Odette asked.

"You stole Eric from me," Ariel replied, stopping in front of Odette.

"I...I don't understand," Odette said.

"Eric was mine and _you _took him from me."

Ariel reached out to grab Odette's neck, but Odette ducked and Ariel got a handful of hair. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde princess and then pulled her hair as hard as she could. A chunk of hair came off in Ariel's hand, along with some pieces of skin. Odette screamed and Ariel laughed. Ariel found the bloody spot on Odette's head and dug her nails into it.

"Please stop!" Odette screamed. "Eric! ERIC!"

"Eric can't hear you, princess. Nobody can. _No_ one is going to help you," Ariel said.

Odette tried to get away, but Ariel pushed her back against the rock.

"I love Eric," Odette snapped. "And Eric loves me! No matter what you do, you can _not _change that."

Ariel scowled at Odette. "Shut up."

"He will never love you like he loves me," Odette said, realizing just how to push Ariel's buttons. "You're nothing to him now."

"I said shut up!" Ariel slammed Odette's face against the rock.

Odette turned to look at Ariel. Her mouth was bloody.

"You can do whatever you want to make me stop talking. But, those words will always echo through your head, mermaid," Odette said. "And you know what I said is the truth."

Odette then spit blood at Ariel. Disgusted, Ariel let go Odette to wipe the blood off her face. Odette quickly started swimming away. Ariel dove under the water and resurfaced in front of Odette.

"You can't out swim me," Ariel stated.

Odette turned to swim in the other direction, but Ariel grabbed her and pulled her under the water. She pulled the human princess deep to the bottom of the ocean. Odette struggled to get away, but Ariel was stronger; they were in _her _element now. Ariel pinned Odette to floor and watched as she struggled to breathe.

"It's over," Ariel said with a laugh.

When Odette was finally dead, Ariel let go of her. She set rock on top of Odette's body, to make sure it would never resurface. She then swam back up to Eric. He was just waking up as came above the water.

"Oh, Eric! Are you all right?" Ariel asked.

"I'm fine." Eric looked up. "Ariel? What are you doing here?"

"Scuttle told me you were here," Ariel replied. "I was coming to apologize to you, but then I saw the boat flipped over and I got worried."

"The boat! Where is Odette?"

Ariel pretended to look confused. "Who? Eric, no one else is here."

"She _has _to be here. She was on the boat with me," Eric said.

Eric got back into the water and started looking around, but saw no sign of Odette.

Panic filled Eric's face. "What if she drowned?"

Ariel put her hand on Eric's shoulder. "If she had drowned, I would have seen her."

Eric now had a blank expression on his face. "She must have left me. I can't believe she'd do that to me. No! Odette _wouldn't _do that to me."

"Then where is she, Eric?" Ariel asked.

Eric sighed in defeat. "I don't know."

"You should go home," Ariel said in a soothing voice. "Dry off and warm up. Then get some sleep; you've had a rough night."

Eric smiled at Ariel. "You've always been there for me, Ariel."

Ariel helped Eric flip his boat back over, then he rowed into the village, with Ariel swimming along side him.

O O O

**A few months later... **

Ariel waited at her and Eric's spot for him to meet her. He said he had big news to tell her today and Ariel was anxious to hear it. She had gotten there quite early and made Eric a seashell necklace while she was waiting for him. When Eric finally arrived, he wasn't alone. A tall, red-headed girl in a beautiful dress was standing next to him, holding his hand.

"Ariel, this is Anastasia," Eric announced. "She and I are getting married."

_She would look pretty at the bottom of the ocean, _Ariel thought, squeezing the seashell necklace until it shattered in her hand.


End file.
